INTRODUCTION
In any language community, the government will naturally adopt a kind of language policy that will regulate the use of language in the community. The kind of policy adopted by a country will be determined by the nature of the linguistic environment. For instance the kind of policy adopted by a monolingual community, which is linguistically homogeneous, will be different from that of a bi-/multilingual community, which is linguistically heterogeneous. . In this Unit, we shall be taking you through how the different kinds of state determine the kind of policy adopted by different governments.
3.1 Nationalism and Nationism
Nationalism describes the belief that groups of people are bound together by territorial, cultural and (sometimes) ethnic links. It is loyalty and devotion to a nation or ethnic group that places emphasis on promoting the interests, cultural and social values, or religion of one group above all others. National solidarity is typically expressed by such outward signs as a national flag, anthem and a national language (Bell, 1976: 169).
Nationism deals with a complex situation in which a group of people see the need to be united in spite of their cultural and linguistic divergences. The outward signs of nationism will be seen in state-operated education, transport, finance, justice systems in order to achieve political integration. Such a state also has a national language, which can act as the vehicle of communication between the government and the people and between the government and the government of other states.
These concepts describe different kinds of states and their compositions. For instance, where the different units that make up a state express strong nationalistic tendencies, it will be difficult for the government to assign the role of a higher language to any of the local languages. However, where there is less emphasis on nationalism, a language spoken by the majority may assume a higher role in the state.
3.2 National and Official Languages
A national language is the language that is chosen in order to achieve the goal of nationalism. It is usually a language seen as binding the state together. An official language is a language that is given a unique status in the state. It is typically the language used in a nation's legislative bodies, and political discourse. Though the law in many nations requires that government documents should be produced in other languages as well. In most countries, the national and official languages are one, e.g., English in America, United Kingdom, and so forth.
3.3 Language Policy
Language Policy refers to what government does officially – through legislation, court decisions, executive action, or other means to:
(a) determine how languages are used in public contexts,
(b) cultivate language skills needed to meet national priorities, or
(c) establish the rights of individuals or groups to learn, use, and maintain languages.
It is also government regulation of its own language use, including steps to facilitate clear communication, train and recruit personnel, guarantee due process, foster political participation, and provide access to public services, proceedings, and documents.
3.4 Endoglossic, Exoglossic and Mixed States
An endoglossic state is one in which the national-official language is the mother tongue of the vast majority of the population. The United Kingdom is a typical example of this kind of state. In the U.K., there are minority language speakers like the Welsh, the Gaelic speaking Scotts and Asian and Caribbean migrant workers. English still remains the national-official language.
An exoglossic state is typically linguistically heterogeneous, due to the large number of non-standard indigenous languages. Some languages might have gained wider currency as lingual franca within some regions within the state. It is however not possible to pick any of them as the official language, so the ex-colonial language is retained to serve the role of the national-official language, while the majority languages within the regions are given the role of regional languages. Examples of this kind of state can be found in Nigeria, Ghana, and some other African and Asian countries.
A mixed state is a state between the two extremes of endo- and exo- glossic states. In such a state, the national and official functions are split between an indigenous language and a non-indigenous language. India is a good example of such a state, where Hindi and English share the role of national-official language.
3.5 Type of Language Policy
Fishman (1971) identifies three major types of language policy. All these three types hinge on the concept of ‘Great Tradition’ and its relationship to the concepts of ‘nationalism’ and ‘nationism’ .
A Great Tradition has to do with assumed existence of a set of cultural features – law, government, religion, history – which is shared by the state and can serve to integrate the members into a cohesive body. Below are the types of policy.
3.5.1 Type A Policy
Under this type of policy, there is no great tradition, so the likelihood is that the state directs its policy towards the creation of an exoglossic state by adopting the language of the ex-rulers as the national-official language. This is common in multi-ethnic, multi-tribal communities, which were forced to belong to one state as a result of the political arrangement of the colonial masters. Most of the African nations would naturally adopt this kind of policy.
3.5.2 Type B Policy
Type B policy is adopted when there exists a great tradition that brings together the different, but related languages in the community. The language of the great tradition is adopted as the national-official language. The aim is to achieve the goals of nationalism and nationism simultaneously. Since the national –official language is indigenous, an endoglossic state can be created with the hope of success. Examples of countries that have adopted this policy type are Ethiopia, Somalia and Thailand.
3.5.3 Type C Policy
Type C policies arise from a situation in which there are several great traditions competing, each with its own social, religious, geographic and linguistic base. Such states aim at the twin goal of nationalism and nationism. In such states, sectionalism is further aggravated by physical distance and non-contiguity between the component regions of the state. Such states set up a central government, which retains a neutral language as the national –official language and adopt the major local languages as regional official languages. This necessarily leads to educated individuals in the nation being bi-/multilingual.
SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
Describe in detail the language policy adopted by any six African countries.
4.0 CONCLUSION
Language policy is essential in any state in order to regulate the use of language. The type of policy adopted by any state is largely determined by the composition of the state, typically, how linguistically complex the state is. The existence of a ‘great tradition’ plays an important role in the choice of language policy for any state
5.0 SUMMARY
In this unit, we discussed language policy, the concepts nation and nationism and how they affect policy. We also looked at the types of state we have, which will determine the kind of policy that will be adopted. Lastly, we examined three types of policies as identified by Fishman (1971).
6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1. Explain the concepts ‘nationalism’ and ‘nationism’ .
2. Define language policy and explain the Nigerian language policy.
3. Is there any difference between a national and an official language? Explain.
4. What is “Great Tradition”? Explain how Great Tradition affects the type of policy chosen by any two former colonies.
7.0 REFERENCES /FURTHER READING
Akindele, F. & Adegbite, W. (1999). The Sociology and Politics of English in Nigeria. Ile-Ife: OAU Press.
Bell, R. (1976). Sociolinguistics, Goals, Approaches and Problems. London: B. T. Batsford Ltd.
Fishman (1971). Advances in the Sociology of Language. The Hague: Mouton.
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